Foreign Relations: The Maiden Comes of Age

For years, German-American
relations resembled nothing so much as a late 18th century romantic
novel, with a fluttery maiden (the Federal Republic), a sometimes cold
lover (the U.S.), with dialogue full of Sturm und Drang. Everytime a
Senator would complain about the high cost of keeping six U.S.
divisions in West Germany, shudders would run up Bonn spines. Every
time the cold war would thaw a bit, Bonn would demand reassuranceonce
again that permanent division of Germany would not be the price of a
Soviet-U.S. rapprochement.

The U.S., on its side, demanded absolute fidelity. The whole pattern of
worry, reassurance...